Manufacturing of roman ceramic artifacts in Po river plane; a multianalytical approach

A multianalytical petrological and geochemical approach, was applied to reconstruct the raw material treatments leading to manufacture ofbricks and tiles ofRoman Age in the province ofPavia (Northem Ita1y), The raw materials were modified in arder to obtain a good quality of mixture. Soils and artifacts were collected in two areas, Lomellina and Oltrepo Pavese. The parameters strongly indicative of manufacturing process afe the clast/matrix ratto and some ofmajor oxide contents such as SiO" Al,O" and CaO. In addition a multivariate statistical treatment was applied to abundance of minor and trace elements, ìncludmg rare earth elements (REE). The sarne treatment was also applied to soil fractions (sand, silt, clay). This methodological approach allows to characterise soils and artifaCts and to outline the processes of addition and/or purification oftemper clasts.